April 1 2012
With all the problems with Invasive Exotic Animals in Florida, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has proposed to test a solution in the Florida Keys. The test involves introducing a genetically altered version of the bird flu that would infect any non-vaccinated wildlife and result in sterility. The virus will be viable for approximately two weeks after which it will genetically self destruct. The resulting sterility would allow the current populations of these exotics to live out their natural lives and die a peaceful natural death, resulting in a complete elimination within each species lifespan.
Peta has tentatively approved this solution as animal friendly and Governor Scotty is expected to sign off on the plan today. The first step in the plan will be to inoculate all native wildlife, including people, against this virus, named Fruitless Lirpa Sloof by State Representative Sorendaughter, is expected to take 4 months and is hoped to be completed by Labor Day when the Fruitless Lirpa Sloof virus will be sprayed over the entire island chain by the Mosquito Control planes. This timing was chosen since there are few visitors to the Florida Keys during the Month of September due to it being the height of Hurricane season and Labor Day the traditional end of the summer vacation season.
There will also be a temporary quarantine on anyone entering the Keys during this period. On a related subject, this quarantine period may have prompted the Conch Republic to plan a coup to take over the Florida Keys and finalize there secession from the U.S. An internal memo reveals the plans reasoning that they will have announced they will again secede from the U.S. on September 4, 2012.
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The spiny, venomous lionfish can kill three-quarters of a reef’s fish population in just five weeks, according to one study.
Those beautiful lionfish, native to Asian waters, are wreaking havoc in the Caribbean and off the coasts of a bunch of Southeastern states.
The species got a finhold over here about 20 years ago. Hurricane damage to a Florida aquarium may have let them loose, though the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says it’s not exactly clear how the lionfish got established in our territory.
What is clear is the fish are gobbling up everything in sight — especially juvenile fish and crustaceans — and reproducing like mad. So a bunch of people concerned about the health of ecosystems around coral reefs are turning to a superpredator to get the lionfish under control.
That superpredator is YOU!
The idea is that you should make lionfish a part of healthy diet. And now there’s a cookbook to help. The Reef Environmental Education Foundation has just put out the Lionfish Cookbook
, with 45 mouthwatering recipes.
“The flesh is actually very light and delicate,” REEF’s Lad Adkins, a coauthor of the book, told the Voice of America in July. “It’s not strong flavored. So you can season it many different ways. It’s a great eating fish.”
NOAA has already thrown its weight behind a campaign to popularize lionfish as a taste treat. “The intent is not to develop a fishery for the lionfish but to consume it out of existence in Caribbean and American waters,” a NOAA statement explains .
The folks at NOAA even have put together step-by-step instructions for filleting lionfish, a task that looks intimidating because of the fish’s venomous spines. But once you dispense with those, the pros say it’s not so hard to get the fillets ready for the skillet.
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A Texas man and three Miami-Dade County men were arrested in an Upper Keys incident Sunday that began on Indian Key Fill.
When FWC Officers Erik Steinmetz and Aaron Smith inspected a boat being pulled from the water at the Islamorada boat ramp, they saw “lobster antenna and legs on the boat, but did not find any lobster,” said Bobby Dube, FWC spokesman.
After the men drove away, Smith “found three lobster stashed inside a cardboard beer carton” that had been tossed into water near the ramp, Dube said. The officers radioed ahead and the suspects were stopped by deputies at mile marker 94, about 10 miles away.
After the four men heatedly denied having anything to do with the lobster, all were taken into custody and charged with interfering with an FWC officer.
Jose Luis Garcia, 43, and Yordanis Brito Perez, 30, both of Miami, Armando Llauro Mesa, 44, of Opa Locka, and Geovanni DelPino, 44, of Plano, Texas, additionally were cited for possession of out-of-season and speared lobster, not having a measuring device and possession of undersized red grouper.
DelPino remains in custody on two felony warrants from Texas, pending extradition.
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Lobster Mobster
BY Les Neuhaus Citizen Staff
Fifteen to 30 trucks a day bring in fresh veneer of sand. Smathers
Beach is recapturing some of its former good looks with a massive infusion of silicon.
Key West city officials say the makeover — “renourishment” in beach-speak — consists of a fresh new veneer of lily-white sand, and has been a long time coming.
Heavy equipment staging for the project began on June 7, but it wasn’t until Thursday that crews began spreading 17,500 tons of sand to restore aspects of the popular man-made beach.
Mother Nature is responsible for the beach’s loss of luster, city spokeswoman Alyson Crean said.
“The Smathers Beach renourishment is a project to replenish sand that wears away over the years from storms and erosion,” Crean said. “It’s a $749,000 project with 50 percent grant funding from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. The other 50 percent of the cost is split by the city and by a grant from the Monroe County Tourist Development Council (TDC).”
The TDC’s capital improvement fund helps sustain areas and resources that attract tourists to the Keys — such as beaches, she said.
“It’s been over seven years since the last full renourishment,” she said. “In the intervening years, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has funded occasional berm repair projects after tropical storms.”
The project will continue through early July, said Janet K. Luce, the on-site inspector for Atkins Global, a London-based global engineering and design consulting firm that recently acquired the Tampa firm PBS&J.
“We provide construction oversight and permit compliance,” Luce said. “We have an environmental-services contract set up with the city of Key West.”
The project is moving west to east along the beach, which will remain open to the public, said Doug Bradshaw, senior project manager for the city’s Engineering Department. “There may be periodic closings of small sections of the beach for safety, but we’re trying to keep everything there operating normally.”
Between 15 and 30 trucks a day are bringing loads of sand to the beach, he said.
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BY ADAM LINHARDT Citizen Staff alinhardt@keysnews.com
A federal judge handed out prison sentences Tuesday to two Florida Keys commercial fishermen who conspired to illegally harvest lobster.
U.S. District Judge Jose Martinez sentenced Rush Maltz, 36, of the Saddlebunch Keys, to 18 months in prison, and Titus Werner, also 36, of Little Torch Key, to a year and a day in prison.
Maltz and Werner each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy on Jan. 4 as part of a plea agreement with U.S. Attorney Thomas Watts-Fitzgerald.
Watts-Fitzgerald has prosecuted most of the federal fisheries cases in the Keys in the past four years as part of a broader investigation led by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) agents.
Maltz, a Stock Island-based fishing guide, apologized to Martinez, family, friends and fellow fishermen when he addressed the court.
“I know what I did was wrong and I accept full responsibility,” he said. “I fully understand how many people I let down.”
Maltz told the judge — and Watts-Fitzgerald confirmed — that he and Werner have removed at least 150 of the 200 artificial habitats, known as casitas, where they harvested lobster in Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary waters. Defense attorneys said the two fishermen devised a more efficient system of removing the casitas after their arrest in August.
To remove as many casitas as possible before their sentencing, the men marked them with buoys on bad weather days and then used hydraulic lifts from lobster trap boats to remove them on good weather days. Maltz thanked the NOAA agents who supervised the work.
“It has been the most efficient removal of casitas to date, and a benefit of spending time with the federal agents,” Maltz said. “I have come to realize the disconnect between the agents, the law and many fishermen. There is a belief among many fishermen that the ocean belongs to them.”
His attorney, Bruce Zimet, argued that given Maltz’s good reputation in the Keys as an otherwise law-abiding fisherman, the community would be better served with Maltz out of prison, working to remove remaining casitas and educating youth about the consequences of violating fishing laws.
“Days like this make me earn my keep,” the judge said before sentencing Maltz. “Obviously, Mr. Maltz has a very large good side, but people need to know if they commit this crime they will be punished.”
The prosecutor told the judge that Werner was the least culpable of the two defendants, and worked as a hired hand for Maltz. Werner told the judge he was committed to setting “a better example to the youth of the Florida Keys.”
Both men were required to surrender their commercial lobster licenses and lobster dive endorsements to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), according to the terms of the plea agreement. Maltz also was ordered to surrender his 2006, 29-foot Sea Vee and his 1973, 23-foot T-craft boats, including all equipment, tackle, engines and trailers, according to the plea agreement.
Arrested alongside Maltz and Werner was Holiday Seafood owner Scott Greager of Stock Island, who was sentenced to three months in prison in January as part of his plea agreement. Greager must report to prison in June.
Maltz and Werner also made a public service video they intended to present to Keys youth. It depicts them removing casitas and explaining the ramifications of violating the law. The judge did not view the video, and said it had no impact on his sentencing decision.
The video was produced by Keys-based fisherman Jose “Spanish Fly” Wejebe, who was among those in the crowded courtroom to support the defendants. Wejebe and Maltz have been featured on the ESPN network.
“Personally, I don’t think justice was served having either man spend one day in jail,” Wejebe said. “Their time is better spent out there helping the FWC and [federal] agents and educating kids. I feel very strongly that Rush — although Rush committed a crime — he’s not a common criminal and to paint him that way is not right. Those of us who know him and watched him grow up know better.”
The judge ordered Maltz and Werner to report to prison on May 22.
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Monroe County circuit Judge Luis Garcia on Monday sentenced Frank M. Guerra of Tavernier to nine months in state prison after he pleaded guilty to three counts of trap molestation. Codefendant Alberto Rodriguez of Miami was sentenced to six months in prison.
Both will begin serving their sentences on April 10 and be on probation for two years upon their release. The court permanently suspended their fishing licenses, and they will not be allowed on state waters during their two-year probation.
Federal and state law enforcement agencies have stepped up enforcement of fishing laws in the past four years, resulting in multiple arrests and prison sentences.
Monroe County State Attorney Dennis Ward and Assistant State Attorney Colleen Dunne lobbied state legislators this year to amend the Florida trap robbing law so judges can sentence offenders to longer prison sentences.
Watts-Fitzgerald told the judge in federal court Tuesday that more arrests could be pending in the investigation into illegal lobster harvesting in the Keys.
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Lobster Mobster
by Barbara Ann Weibel at Hole In The Donut Travels
I’d often driven by Bahia Honda State Park on Big Pine Key in the Florida Keys, but had never stopped. During a recent trip to Key West, determined to rectify that oversight, I carved out a couple of days on the end of my trip, specifically for beach time.
Bahia Honda contains three separate beaches, each of which is completely different from the others. Caloosa Beach is tucked into a gentle cove at the foot of the old Overseas Railway trestle at the southern end of the park. A portion of the old bridge has been maintained as an elevated walkway that offers spectacular views of the beach and inlet. Caloosa is popular with families because restrooms, a snack bar, and ample parking are all located adjacent to the crescent.
At Loggerhead Beach, located in the center of the park, a submerged sandbar emerges at low tide. Sunbathers deposit coolers and perch folding chairs on these exposed sand hills and wade far out into the shallow aqua water to search for shells and sea glass. At low tide, the amazingly clear waters of Loggerhead Beach recede to reveal half a mile or more of sandbar flats.
Read more…
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BY TIMOTHY O’HARA Citizen Staff tohara@keysnews.com
Annual catch limits for commercially harvested fish have been a controversial issue bitterly opposed by local commercial fishermen. They soon will not have to worry about federally imposed quotas, however, for one popular species caught off the Florida Keys — stone crab.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) board on Thursday approved rules that extend its stone crab management to federal waters beyond state waters. The rule amendments are expected to take effect Aug. 31.
The news was welcomed by local commercial fishermen and the Florida Keys Commercial Fishermen’s Association, as it means stone crab would not be subject to federal quotas.
“The state of Florida does a wonderful job managing wildlife,” association President Bill Kelly said. “We are very comfortable with the FWC having sole jurisdiction.”
Kelly argued the move would remove the fishery from the jurisdiction of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, which he said places unnecessary quotas on fishermen and arbitrarily closes fishing seasons.
Stone crab is an important fishery in the Keys, with Monroe County fishermen accounting for the bulk of the annual harvest, roughly 3.5 million pounds, Kelly said.
Currently, the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council has a federal fishery management plan in place for stone crabs. The council recently voted to recommend the repeal of this plan to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries Service.
The NOAA secretary has not signed off on it yet, but is expected to soon. At that time, the final rule likely will be published in late August or early September. It probably will be in effect before the fishing season starts Oct. 15, said Carrie Simmons, a fishery biologist with the Gulf Council.
NOAA Fisheries Service intends to repeal the federal stone crab fishery management plan before the season opens.
The stone crab fishery is centered in Florida and the FWC already plays a leading role in stone crab stock assessments and management. Most of the stone crab fishery occurs in state waters off Florida, and existing federal rules for stone crabs are the same as the FWC’s rules.
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A 66 year old Fort Myers man got into a confrontation with a woman over spearing lobsters at a Grassy Key trailer park Sunday night. The manager of Jolly Roger Trailer Park spotted Tim Branauer standing on the seawall at the trailer park spearing lobster at about 9:30 pm. When she confronted him, he threw the lobster in his hand back into the water and told her she had no proof he was doing anything illegal.
After she called the Sheriff’s Office, Branauer went back to his trailer and retrieved more wrung lobster tails and began discarding them into the water. The manager grabbed her camera and began taking pictures. When he saw what she was doing, he grabbed her wrist and took the camera away from her.
A second witness confirmed what the manager said when questioned by Sergeant Joel Slough. A Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officer arrived to assist. He recovered a wrung lobster tail from the water, and Sgt. Slough recovered a dead lobster which had a hole in it, indicating it had been speared.
Sergeant Slough arrested Branauer, charging him with two counts of violating saltwater fishing regulations, tampering with evidence, battery and robbery. He was booked into jail.
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By RYAN McCARTHY rmccarthy@keynoter.com
After extensive bait trapping and surveillance in 2007 and 2008, state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and U.S. Department of Agriculture officials thought the fight against Gambian giant pouch rats on Grassy Key was over.
The invasive exotic is an African species that can grow up to nine pounds and reportedly appeared on Grassy Key sometime between 1999 and 2001, when they were released by a resident who had been breeding them.
“We thought we had them whipped as of 2009,” said Scott Hardin, exotic-species coordinator for the FWC. “In the early part of 2011, a resident e-mailed me and said he saw one of the rats. We were skeptical but went back and talked to people and [saw] there were rats that we missed.”
Hardin said trapping efforts began again in May last year and that pregnant females were found. More trapping was done in August and again during a 10-week period in November and December.
“We trapped about 20 since we started. I would not imagine there’s more than another couple of dozen at most. We’ve caught them all within a half-mile of each other,” Hardin said. “We think they have not moved far but they clearly reproduced. We are surveying the area and been taking pictures of rats ever since.”
The rats apparently are mostly confined to the area between Kyle and Pecan avenues along Morton Street. Hardin said they’ve typically been found in homeowners’ yards.
“These are burrowers and there’s just some features around the houses that substitute for that. It’s hard to burrow in all that coral, plus there’s fresh-water sources,” he said.
Grassy Key resident Nancy Auten lives a short distance from where the remaining rats are believed to be and has seen traps around the island.
“I was just concerned because a lot of other animals get in there. As a concerned citizen, I was worried some other critter was going to get in there,” she said.
Auten said she’s never seen a Gambian rat on Grassy Key and — along with several neighbors — doesn’t let the FWC trap in her yard because a fixed feral cat lives underneath her home.
Hardin says the Gambian rat matures and is able to reproduce within five months of birth.
“We’re going to try to trap at least that often until we see signs that we have knocked them back,” he said.
Hardin said another round of trapping is planned for July or August. Some 200 traps are baited primarily with cantaloupe and some peanut butter.
Giant Gambian Pouch Rat Found in Islamorada 11-1-07
More on Florida Keys Gambian Pouch Rats
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Peta has tentatively approved this solution as animal friendly and Governor Scotty is expected to sign off on the plan today. The first step in the plan will be to inoculate all native wildlife, including people, against this virus, named Fruitless Lirpa Sloof by State Representative Sorendaughter, is expected to take 4 months and is hoped to be completed by Labor Day when the Fruitless Lirpa Sloof virus will be sprayed over the entire island chain by the Mosquito Control planes. This timing was chosen since there are few visitors to the Florida Keys during the Month of September due to it being the height of Hurricane season and Labor Day the traditional end of the summer vacation season.
